Sound waves may help cancer drugs reach the brain
NCT ID NCT05317858
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Aug 20, 2026 · Updated 4 times
Summary
This study tests whether a focused ultrasound device can safely open the blood-brain barrier in people with non-small cell lung cancer that has spread to the brain. About 30 participants will receive standard immunotherapy plus the ultrasound procedure. The goal is to see if this helps the drugs work better against brain tumors.
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Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Phase 3
Large-scale testing in a bigger group. Usually the last step before a treatment can be approved.
- Participants
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About 30 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Aug 2022
- Expected to finish
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Dec 2027
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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A company
The lead sponsor is a pharmaceutical, biotech, or medical-device company.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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18 to 100 years
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * Participant is ≥ 18 years of age * The participant provides written informed consent for the trial * Participant is willing to comply with all study procedures for the duration of the study * Participant has a Karnofsky Performance Status ≥ 70% and/or ECOG 0-2 * Participant is a NSCLC subject prescribed immune checkpoint inhibitor systemic therapy according to on-label use with the target brain lesion(s) measuring ≥ 0.5 cm in longest diameter. Target mets may include: De novo mets for which surgery and radiation can be deferred, Mets with or without history of prior radiation, Mets with history of radiation after at least 8 weeks since last radiation treatment, and In the event a previously treated met has progressed according to institutional practice within 4 weeks post radiation treatment, the met may be study eligible, and/or if in the opinion of the Investigator, the subject may benefit from the study procedure. * Female subject is not planning pregnancy during the study duration and confirmed NOT PREGNANT each procedure day. * Screening/Baseline laboratory values Screening/Baseline should adhere to local standard of care lab values for ICI therapy Exclusion Criteria * Participant has evidence of acute intracranial hemorrhage * Participant at risk for spontaneous intracranial hemorrhage (e.g., history of metastatic melanoma or other tissue histology). * Participant has signs and symptoms of increased intracranial pressure or symptomatic mass effect, midline shift or evidence of subfalcine, uncal or tonsillar herniation. * Participant receiving Bevacizumab (Avastin) therapy, or other drugs with a proclivity for causing bleeding. * History of bleeding disorders or tissue pathologies which increase the subject's risk of hemorrhage for anticoagulation medications, implement pre-surgical standard procedure to avoid increased risk of a bleeding event. * Participant has an infectious viral infection such as active Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C or detectable HIV viral load or participants with active bacterial infection such as TB (Bacillus tuberculosis) that may, in the opinion of the investigator, interfere with the subject receiving the study therapy or procedures or otherwise impact their participation in the trial. * Subjects with evidence of cranial or systemic infection. * Participant has received a solid organ or hematopoietic stem cell transplant. * Participant has received a live vaccine within 28 days prior to the first on-study ICI infusion with or without Exablate. * Known sensitivity to DEFINITY® ultrasound contrast agent or hypersensitivity to perflutren microsphere or its components, e.g., polyethylene glycol, as found in MiraLAX and bowel prep products. * Contraindications to MRI and gadolinium-DTPA including non-MRI-compatible implanted devices, severe claustrophobia, unable to lie supine in MRI. * Subjects with significant liver dysfunction, (cirrhosis, hemochromatosis, severe alcohol abuse, or active hepatitis (autoimmune or infectious)) * Has a diagnosis of immunodeficiency or is receiving chronic systemic steroid therapy (in dosing exceeding 10 mg daily of prednisone equivalent) or any other form of immunosuppressive therapy within 7 days prior to the first on-study ICI infusion with or without Exablate. Note: prophylactic steroid use for ICI and chemotherapy infusion per institutional practice is allowed per protocol. * Has a known additional malignancy that requires active treatment that would interfere with study procedures. * Known presence of leptomeningeal disease. * Has a diagnosis of active autoimmune disease (e.g., autoimmune Hepatitis, Guillain-Barre Syndrome, etc.) requiring systemic treatment in the past 2 years (i.e., with use of disease modifying agents, corticosteroids, or immunosuppressive drugs). Replacement therapy (e.g., thyroxine, insulin, or physiologic corticosteroid replacement therapy for adrenal or pituitary insufficiency, etc.) is not considered a form of systemic treatment. History of (non-infectious) pneumonitis that requires steroids or has current pneumonitis * Has a history or current evidence of any condition, therapy, or laboratory abnormality that might confound the results of the study, interfere with the subject's participation for the full duration of the study, or is not in the best interest of the subject to participate, in the opinion of the treating investigator. * Subject is currently enrolled in another intervention based clinical trial
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The study's own enquiry address
This study publishes an address for enquiries. See it below .
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The places running it
11 sites in 2 countries. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
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Study contacts
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Contact
Email: •••••@•••••
Locations
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Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist
RECRUITINGWinston-Salem, North Carolina, 27103, United States
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Broward Health
RECRUITINGFort Lauderdale, Florida, 33316, United States
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Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian
RECRUITINGNewport Beach, California, 92663, United States
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Johnston Willis Hospital
ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITINGRichmond, Virginia, 23235, United States
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Miami Cancer Institute at Baptist Health
RECRUITINGMiami, Florida, 33176, United States
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Moffitt Cancer Center
RECRUITINGTampa, Florida, 33612, United States
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Oregon Health & Science University
RECRUITINGPortland, Oregon, 97239, United States
Contact Email: •••••@•••••
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Rhode Island Hospital
RECRUITINGProvidence, Rhode Island, 02903, United States
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Samsung Medical Center
NOT_YET_RECRUITINGSeoul, Seoul, 06351, South Korea
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Seoul National University Hospital
NOT_YET_RECRUITINGSeoul, South Korea
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Severance Hospital, Yonsei University Health System
NOT_YET_RECRUITINGSoeul, South Korea
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St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center
WITHDRAWNPhoenix, Arizona, 85013, United States
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Sunnybrook Research Institute
ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITINGToronto, Ontario, M4N 3M5, Canada
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University of Maryland
RECRUITINGBaltimore, Maryland, 21201, United States
More trials for these conditions
Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
- Can a new drug shrink advanced solid tumors?
- Can a targeted drug delivery system shrink lung tumors?
- Can a new drug shrink tumors that resist standard care?
- Can a Three-Dose immunotherapy cure early lung cancer without surgery?
- Can a new drug shrink advanced solid tumors?
- Can a less extensive lung cancer surgery be just as effective?